page_title: Wildlife of Iceland
section_title: Plants
hierarchical_section_title: Wildlife of Iceland / Plants
caption_attribution_description: Isländisches_Moos_(Cetraria_islandica) rechts und Schneeflechte (links) am_Mývatn
context_page_description: The wildlife of Iceland is the wild plant and animal life found on the island of Iceland, located in the north Atlantic Ocean just south of the Arctic Circle. The flora and fauna is limited by the geography and climate of the island. The habitats on the island include high mountains, lava fields, tundras, rivers, lakes and a coastal plain of varying width. There is a long coastline, much dissected by fjords, especially in the west, north and east, with many offshore islets.
context_section_description: There is a limited number of plant species in Iceland. At one time a well-forested island, the arrival of settlers was followed by the felling of trees for construction and firewood and few trees now remain. The settlers introduced livestock, and overgrazing, particularly by sheep, led to damage to the volcanic soils.  Three quarters of the island is now affected by soil erosion, with the remaining soil unable to support much vegetation. The flora includes about 540 species of plant, with woody plants typically including heather, bilberry, bearberry, crowberry, hairy birch, rowan and willow. Most of the trees are less than 2 m (7 ft) in height with a few taller trees in the river valleys of the north and east.
  Much of the northern part of the country is marshy or tundra, with the vegetation being predominantly mosses, lichens and sedges. Typical is Iceland moss, a lichen which grows abundantly forming mats on the tundras and mountain slopes and  which can provide "famine food" in times of necessity. Sedges and grasses dominate the vascular plants, with 53 species of the former and 47 of the latter. Of dicotyledonous plants, the commonest family is the Asteraceae (daisy family), followed by the Caryophyllaceae (carnation family). There are around 560 species of bryophyte (mosses and liverworts), 550 species of lichen and 1,200 species of fungi, with both lichen and fungi being similar to those found in Scandinavia.
caption: Iceland moss
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